Shooting Stars
by Medlie Skyth
Summary: *3rd in series of 'Lakefic'* Tori and Jade finally get the chance to spend some time together in private, but their rotten luck prevents them from having a good time. JORI
1. Housekeepers

Shooting Stars

If you've never seen the fourth of July on a lake, I would highly recommend it. The experience is magical, each and every time.

That's where Tori and I were right now; on Diamond Lake, watching the fireworks show off my grandmother's pontoon boat. We'd been at the lake all week, and it's been a very relaxing vacation. I return to my seat after pouring us both drinks, and hand her one before cuddling under the blanket with her.

"Thank you sweetie." She smiles, and holds up her glass. "To the most peaceful week at Diamond Lake in a long, long time."

The sound of our cups clashing bounces off the lake, and then is interrupted from the firework's boom.

"I can't believe we made it." I reply. "I owe you some cash."

When I arrived on Sunday, I bet Tori five bucks we would run into some sort of catastrophe this week. It's almost midnight, and I'm actually glad I'd lost.

All week we'd been playing in the lake, catching fireflies, racing on the jet skis, and of course enjoying ice cream. What a perfect ending to a perfect week; watching the eccentric flashes of light shoot through the sky with my darling girlfriend.

At 11:00 at night, the grand finale shoots off, and we realize it's time to go home.

"Well I guess I'll see you at school in a couple days." I say as I dock the boat.

"Yeah, school..." She sighs. "Because I am SO looking forward to all the drama."

I embrace her. "Common, we've had a good break."

"I know, I just wish it wouldn't have to end." She shrugs.

We both hop off, and Tori jumps on her jet. "Love you, see you soon."

"Love you too." I wave, and she bursts off.

I enter the house, and find the back door is locked. I'm forced to go in through the porch.

I go up to my room and turn on the TV. I was still awake, and not tired at all.

"This week on; THE WOOD! HOLLYWOOD!"

My phone rings, as if on cue. Tori must be watching it right now.

"Heeey, ready for the season finale?" Tori chimes.

We'd been watching every show together; some here, some at her uncles, but most of them over the phone. This way, we can talk about everything that happens, as it's happening.

"Heck yeah, it's-"

Another incoming call. From mom? I know gran's too weak to climb the steps on her own, but mother has no excuse. For starters; she's already UP stairs.

"Hang on..." I say, and switch lines. "You can't walk down the hall and talk to me?" I groan to my mother.

"Jade, it's dad. We're at the hospital."

CH 1: Housekeepers

I rush in the room the doctor directed me towards. It was an hour drive, and I got lost at least seven times, but I didn't care. Dad was freaking out, and through his crying I thought I heard him say something was wrong with gran.

I prayed I was wrong, and everything was okay, but I had the feeling it would be bad. It was worse; fatal, even.

"Gran!" I cry as I enter the room.

"Keep your voice down, Jaden." My mother warns. "She's had quite a scare."

Poor Grandma... she looked like she was in so much pain, laying there with that... machine, thing.

"Oh darling, you're okay!" My father whispers, and hugs me.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"Oh dear… someone broke into the house after you left." Mom explains, wiping tears from her eyes. "All we know is whoever it was took your grandma's vase, and left before anyone else saw."

"We're trying to find out who, but mom hasn't woken up yet." My father adds through a muttered tone.

I assume my parents must have locked the doors when they left... but how careless of them to leave me there. I guess they didn't have a choice, if they wanted gran to make it here on time.

"Gran..."

My mother drove me to the lake house in grandma's van, which I took here. She left father the car; the vehicle they took here when gran fainted, for him when he decided to come back.

"I'm sorry, but we can't. You have work, Harold." My mother says over the phone. This was going to be an even longer drive home with them arguing like this.

I couldn't imagine leaving her here the way she is, but it's true they both have to work, and I have school. Some things are just unavoidable.

"How do you expect we pay the bills, then? Not to mention the life support. ...yes, but that only covers half! ...I'm sorry, it's hard for me too, but- ...HAROLD!"

I jump when she screams.

"Get a hold of yourself, god damn it! We'll talk about it later!" With that, she hangs up.

I start packing my things when I get home. I can hear muffled yelling from my parent's room as I gather my things and shove them in the bag. Got the charger from the wall, my swim suit from the tub, my necklace... "Where's my necklace?" I look around frantically. Oh, wait... on my neck. Duh.

Well, that's everything, then. I thought having to leave was hard before, but now it just seemed wrong. Gran was hurting, and this may very well be the last time I see her.

"Jade?" Mom knocks, and enters my room. "Jaden dear, could I have a word with you?"

I nod, and she sits down on the bed.

"Dear, I've been talking with your father, and-"

"I know." I sigh. "We have to go back home."

She doesn't respond.

"The thing is... SOMEONE has to go home and take care of the house." She explains, more likely convincing herself it's the right thing to do rather than me.

"So what you're saying is we're abandoning her." I confirm bitterly, and zip up the last compartment on my bag.

"You're father's staying with her." She says, more firm. "Grandma's going to have to be transferred to Florida so her heart specialist can do surgery. I'm going home, and..." She sniffles. "You're staying here."

My eyes widen. "Just what the hell do you mean by that?"

"Jade, someone broke into your grandma's house. She's going to be in Florida, and someone needs to stay nearby incase the culprit returns."

I can't believe I'm hearing this! "You're going to leave me here because you think some dangerous man, who, by the way, landed grandma in the HOSPITAL, might come back?" I stress. "Do you _want_ me to die?"

"I know you're upset, but I talked it over with your father, and it's for the best. We think the culprit is afraid of people, and won't come if they know someone's here. And your grandmother is only in the hospital because she's old and brittle." She explains further. "I understand that we're putting you in danger, but if we're going to afford to keep your grandma alive, we'll need all the assets this house has."

"Then take them!" I cry, as if it were obvious.

No matter what I said, she countered. 'Jade, we can't possibly take a boat home to Hollywood', she says. 'Jade, if the house is unattended for days, even weeks, the burglars will surely return'. What about me? Doesn't my life count as an asset that needs protecting?

"The neighbors will check up on you daily." She huffs. "Now quit asking questions, I have to-"

"What about school?" I question. "I'll miss the beginning of my classes!"

"Already cleared it with principal Helen." She states. "I'm going."

She picked up her bags from the hall, and started down the stairs.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" I yell down the steps.

She snags her keys, as well as gran's, from the hooks, and opens the door.

"Home. I'm sorry Jade, but it's the only option."

She left.

She… she was leaving! She was seriously leaving me here. I can't fucking believe this!

I look out the windows beside me. A single firework shoots off, and then the house is in silence. Not a sound can be heard in the large domain, and the atmosphere became eerie.

I call mom at least seven or eight times, but she won't answer. Dad won't pick up either. After many more failed attempts, I decide to call Tori.

"Where'd you go?" She asks when she picks up.

Finally, a response!

"I need you to come over." I say.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She questions, detecting the panic in my tone. "Is everything okay?"

"Look, I'll explain when you get here just... get here!" I say into the phone, and hang up.

Mother's so convinced that if no one's in the house, the man who startled my gran will come back. We were gone for more than a few hours; how is she so sure he hasn't been here while we were packing?

It felt like forever before Tori finally got here. I lay in bed, but couldn't sleep.

Once she arrives I slide open the door, and quickly lock it when she enters.

She had her PJ's on, and I realize it's at three thirty in the morning. I must have woke her up, because she also looked very sleepy.

"What's so important that I had to rush over here at..." She looks at her phone. "Three twenty five in the morning?"

"I don't know where to begin... My mother left, and my dad's going to Florida with gran, and I'm here by myself, and-"

"So what you're saying is the house is empty." Tori picks up, then warps her arms around my waist.

"This is not the time!" I freak, pushing her away. "I don't know if the house is empty, because there could be some psychotic thief on the loose!"

"Hey! Take it easy!" She laughs. "What are you talking about?"

I explain everything to her, this time in detail, rather than random panicked sentences. She seemed to understand, by the end of it.

"God..." She sighs. "I'm so sorry."

Tori knew my grandma, too. She let her visit this past week, and even stay overnight a couple times. Gran befriended her very quickly; Tori is my girlfriend, after all.

"The thing is, now everyone's just left me here to die."

She covers her mouth and laughs.

"This isn't funny!"

"Sorry!" Tori responds. "But, I mean, common. You're not gonna die!"

"How do you know that?" I quiz, which causes her to laugh even more.

Somehow I get the feeling she wasn't taking me very seriously.

"You're being ridicules! I know you're upset and all, but... well, I doubt that whoever was here would come back."

"How do you know that?" I repeat, more focused than before.

"Well, I guess... ...okay, you're a thief, right?"

"No, I'm a shoplifter." I correct. "That's totally different than breaking into someone's house!"

"No it's not! You take something that's not yours, and you leave. It's the same concept." She points out. "And from watching you, I know for a fact you never go back to the same place once you've taken something."

...I guess I don't.

"You called the cops, right?" Tori asks when I still look concerned.

"My dad did, but-"

"So you'll be fine! They'll find the guy who stole your stuff, and I'll see you back home within a few days." She assures me, and starts toward the door.

"Wait!" I cry, and throw my arms around her. "Please don't leave me here!"

She was rubbing my back now. "I gotta go home, Jade." She replies with sympathy, nearly echoing my mother's words. "You'll be fine, trust me."

She left, and I watched her as she crossed the lake to her uncle's.

So that's it. No one even cared that I was scared or upset. They're just going to leave me here by myself.

"Bark!"

...and Pickles.


	2. The Long Way Around the Block

CH 2: The Long Way Around the Block

I didn't get so much as a minute of sleep last night. I watched the clock as it turned to four... five... six in the morning.

At that point I decided to get breakfast. Every little noise made me flinch, and laying down wasn't doing me any good.

I throw a couple waffles in the toaster. Out of syrup... just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.

I admit it was a little more comfortable with the dog here. Pickles might be annoying, but she is also very big. If the criminal does return to the scene, he won't even think about staying after he sees that beast of an animal.

Then again, I can't be sure the man is even criminal. I've come to think he's a thief, after grandma's valuables, but he could be anything from a cold-blooded killer to a senile man at the wrong address, looking to buy some pottery. Actually, the more I think about it, he may not even be a 'he'.

I tend to jump the gun and assume things. When I first saw the Black Jet running across the lake, I assumed that person was a 'he' then too. I'm not saying Tori's the one who broke in, but the fact of the matter is, there's no telling the identity of the culprit.

The side door swings open, and I nearly fall from my seat at the sound of the door slamming. I rush behind the counter, and hear the door connected to the house close.

Pickles was behind me, and sniffing my hair. I push the large dog to the side and hope whoever came in sees her.

The dog barks twice, then runs forward.

"Easy, Pickles!"

"...Tori?"

I emerge from the counter, and see gran's dog licking Tori to death.

I approach the dog and pull her off her by the collar, then help Tori up.

"Thanks." She groans, then wipes off her clothes.

I punch her in the shoulder angrily.

"Ow!" She glares. "What was that for? I came back!"

"I didn't punch you because you left." I snap. "You were cheating on me!"

She looked concern. "Jade, I wasn't!"

"Don't fucking lie to me Vega!" I shout in rage.

She looked confused, and a little worried. Then I smile. "I saw you getting some serious tongue action with Pickles just now."

She smiles now. "I see you've calmed down since last night."

"Barely. I haven't gotten any sleep." I respond.

"I... didn't either." She admits.

I can tell… her eyes looked a little tired, now that she's mentioned it.

"I was worried about you all night Jade. I know I was pretending like it wasn't a big deal and all, but you were so scared, and I didn't want-"

"Oh my god, I was not 'scared'!" I protest.

"Yes you were! You were totally freaking out!" She reminds. "I shouldn't have left last night, I knew you were upset, and I ignored it for my own sake." She explains.

She looked sincerely upset over her mistake, and maybe a little frightened herself.

"I thought if I didn't think about it, maybe I wouldn't feel so bad about leaving." She sighs.

"...you don't have to feel bad, you know." I mutter.

"Too late. I already feel terrible enough, so I've decided I'm staying."

Did Tori just say she's staying?

"Yeah." She nods, as if she could read my thoughts. "Until that burglar is found, I'm not leaving your side." Tori declares.

Really, it was sweet, but I couldn't ask her to do such a thing. First off, she has school. Plus what would her parents say? And it's not like her uncle wouldn't know to look here for his missing niece. As a matter of fact, this is the first place he'd check.

"There's no way." I conclude. "I don't see how it would work."

"I don't care." She sasses back. "There's nothing you or anyone else can say to convince me to leave you here by yourself."

I try to argue it, but there's no point. Once that girl sets her mind on something, well, there's no changing it. She tells me she has to go so she can pretend to drive home, but she'd be back as soon as she could be.

"So you're just gonna drive your car here then?" I question, still reluctant to let her go.

Tori removes my hands from her waist. "I'll be going the long way around the block, but yeah. …really, it won't take more than ten minutes!"

She returned ten hours later.

Apparently, she got side-tracked. Apparently, she 'accidentally' drove all the way back home, then turned around and, apparently, came right back.

"Really." I huff, my hands on my hips looking at her with an angry stare.

"Sorry!" She cries, slouching her shoulders. "It's just such a habit when I leave that way… and there's no turn around on that express way until, like-"

"Fuck it, I don't want to hear excuses… you forgot about me."

I pace over to the couch by the fireplace and sit down. Tori was still for a moment, but approached me again.

"I did not."

So maybe she really didn't mean to leave me alone for long, but she did forget about me, and I don't doubt my parents have by now. I just felt a little abandoned… who could blame me with the night I had?

"Common, I'll make it up to you." She smiles. "Ice cream's on me tonight."

…well she is here now.

"Alright." I sigh. Technically it's on me, since I'm fairly certain she'll be using my five bucks from our bet. Which, technically, should be invalid since last night. "I still have to eat dinner though, so later."

She looks at her phone. "It'll be closed if we take much longer."

"It's only nine fifteen!" I reason, looking at my phone as well as an indicator for the time. "It's not like I'm cooking a twelve course meal!"

"I know, but, it'll take us at least ten or fifteen minutes just to get there."

"Tori, it's the Marina." I remind her. "It's right across the lake. We'll just hop on the Jet after we eat, it shouldn't take any longer than a minute or two."

She rolls her eyes. "We have to _walk_ there Jade."

"Why?" I question.

Ohhh, right…

She nods when she picks up I understand. Of course, the Black Jet is at her uncle's house.

"So we going?" She asks, tapping at the time on her phone.

Instead of walking, as she suggested, I remind her we had the paddle boat. All week I'd been trying to convince her to take it around the lake with me, but the lazy girl always countered with 'we'll just take the Jet'. This time she didn't have a choice.

It takes a lot of work to get it moving, and steering it is confusing as hell, but on the upside, I can actually hear her when she's talking to me. The soft patter of the water rotating under the propeller was a big step down from the roar of the Jet, and actually made the trip rather peaceful.

"You're sure you locked the doors when you left?" I ask Tori, now that we're halfway across the lake.

"Yes, Jade." She sighs. I'm sure she wished she couldn't hear me right now with my constant paranoia. "Will you just settle down? Everything's gonna be fine!"

Easy for her to say…

It was nearly ten when we finally arrived, since we didn't leave until about nine thirty. I knew we didn't have to rush, since Barb would let us in one way or another.

"My dears, I was going to close early today." Barb greets as we enter. "Please don't tell me you're here for dinner."

I shake my head. "Just ice cream."

She wipes her forehead. "Phew! For a second there I thought I'd have to do actual work! What can I get for you young ladies?"

We order our usual, and take a seat next to the jukebox.

Barb and the crew were cleaning up as we ate; wiping down the tables and floors, putting the ice cream in the freezer, ect ect, until our older friend decided to take a break and lounge with us by the windows.

"I've been thinking, girls… shouldn't you two be home by now?"

Tori laughs. "Yeah, we're supposed to be."

I nod, and take another bite out of my frozen desert.

"Now I've heard of some crazy trouble you two have gotten yourselves into, but skipping school and lying to your parents?"

So we end up explaining the whole ordeal to Barb; about the psycho thief and my grandma and everything. It was well past closing by the time we'd wrapped up our explanation.

"My my, you're just a magnet for danger, aren't you Jade?" Barb inquires, taking a deep breath. "And you're staying with her Tori?" She clarifies. "Well ain't that a nice thing of you to do."

Tori smiles and shrugs. "Aww, well!"

"Now you know you're always welcome here, girls. If you ever feel uncomfortable at home you just say the word and I'd be more than happy to let you stay as long as you'd like-"

"Barbra!" The manager calls from across the counter. "You're shift's up, time to go home."

She hops up. "Yippie! Okay, ladies, out you go!"

"What?" We were both shocked. We stood up reluctantly, and Barb pushed us out the doors.

"Nice seeing ya, thanks for the visit, buh-bye!"

Before I knew it we were back outside, the Marina doors slamming behind us as Barb skipped off to her beat-up car.

"…I didn't even get to finish my ice cream." Tori complains.

Yeah, because that's the problem here.

"We can always come back tomorrow, you know." I point out. I mean, I guess it wouldn't be fair to keep Barb there all night just because we weren't comfortable by ourselves.

"Okay, tomorrow." She nods, and we start back to the paddle boat.


	3. Hey

CH 3: Hey

I really was okay with Tori here. At first I was afraid, but after a couple days of nothing but calm, I was confident me staying here was a good thing.

"It's like a bonus summer vacation!" Tori comments.

We were sitting in the garage, and just finished a game of pinball. A whole extra week off school, and the best part is I was spending it alone with the girl I love.

"So I was thinking, maybe we should throw a bonfire tonight." Tori proposes.

I slap her on the shoulder. "Who would come? Your uncle, who thinks you've gone home, or the rest of the lake who hates our guts?"

"…" She was stuck. "Well, maybe it could just be a me and you bonfire. You know, like, with marshmallows and music."

So maybe we were both a little bored here without the Jet, or Tori's uncle to provide our beverage of choice, but trust me; it's far better than sitting at school.

"I still don't know." I sigh. "People flock to bonfires, what if someone tells on you?"

She smiles sweetly. "Aw, you don't want me to go home."

I turn away. "No! I just…" Now _I_ was stuck. "I just don't want to be left here alone."

"Sure." She smirks.

Tori stands from the table and moves to the arcade machine in the corner. She starts a game, and the familiar 8-bit tune starts up. New Zealand Story, no doubt.

"You know we have other games here, right?"

She didn't answer, and was instead too focused on the moving screen.

I get up and move to the kitchen, where I begin to compose a sandwich. Damn it… out of ham.

We've been eating all the food here and no one's been home to restock it. I wasn't going to eat all her old person food, or consume those damn seltzer drinks, for the rest of the week, so maybe it's about time Tori and I went 'shopping'.

"Tori!" I yell from the kitchen. "We're leaving!"

"Tori?"

It's too bad there isn't a volume control on those things. Maybe she'd actually respond for a change.

I open the garage door.

"Get your purse, we're…" I trail off as I walk inside.

Where the hell was she?

The garage door slams. Not the one I came through, and not the big door into this garage; but the actual car garage closes from the other side. I notice the door connecting the two garages is open, and cross through.

She's not supposed to open that.

I lock the door connecting to the house and look around. If this was a joke, then it's an incredibly cruel one.

"I'm not playing, come out."

The second garage was dark as ever, there being no windows like in the arcade room. The door was shut, which was most likely the crashing sound I heard earlier. I step outside the regular door. Everything looked normal; Tori's car was still there, nothing seemed out of place.

I reenter the house (after locking both doors) and search for my phone. I planned on leaving it for our trip to the grocery store, but I didn't want to be without it if I was going out searching for her.

My phone, plus Tori's car keys, and I'm out the door. I figured I'd see her on her way to the Marina, but after searching the whole neighborhood, I started to get concerned.

Do I call the cops? What if she's just playing a trick on me? Before I make any decisions, I notice her sitting by the rail road tracks.

"What are you doing here?"

I parked in the grass by the side and hopped out.

"Hey." She greets, and waves at me.

"Hey?" I scold. "I've been looking for you for the past forty five minutes and all you have to say to me is 'hey'?"

"I'm sorry!" She huffs. "It's not my fault, I got lost!"

I look around. We were just across from the dollar store. "How the hell did you get here Vega?"

She looks at me, then to the car, and starts towards it. I unlock, and when she tries to take her keys I pull back.

"I'm not drunk." She informs me, hopping in the passenger seat. "I was kidnapped."

My eyes widen. "What?"

I knew it! I was too afraid to admit it, but I knew that thief had gotten to her!

"Tori are you okay? What happened, did the thief try to hurt you?" I panic, taking hold of her shoulder and checking for any bruises.

"I'm fine! Can we just… can we go to the Marina?"

I reverse out of my spot and head across the tracks back into the neighborhood. On the way over, she began telling me about the kidnapper.

"Greg's the thief?" I question when she mentions he's the one who took her.

"Jade! Will you let me talk? It wasn't the thief, I mean, my _uncle_ isn't the thief, he's my uncle. My fathers brother. Who's responsible for me while I'm here."

"I know." I tell her. "What's your point?"

"I'm not supposed to be here." She reminds.

Oh right… it was only a matter of time before Greg came looking for her. "So how'd he find out?"

"I was getting there!" The annoyed girl explains. "Anyway, he pretty much came out of no where after you left the garage…"

*Flashback*

"I swear, you two don't leave each other's site for a second, am I right?" Greg announces from behind.

Tori spins around terrified, to see it's only her uncle.

"Oh, uh, hey." She gasps.

"Your father called, wanted to know why you weren't home. I figured I'd check here when I noticed _your_ _car in the driveway_."

*Flashforward*

"Oh yeah… that may have been a pretty big indicator." I sigh. "We should have probably thought this through."

"You think? But after that he ended up restraining me with a scarf and threw me in the back of his pickup. I struggled my way out of it and jumped just before the light turned green."

I was pulling into the Marina now.

"We can't really stay at your house now, because it's only a matter of time before he finds out I'm gone." She finishes.

"Well what are we gonna do?" I ask. "It's my job to protect the house from that deranged thief while gran's away."

"I could hide." She throws out there. "But… I kinda wanna stay away from there for a while."

I really had no choice. It was either I hide her from her scary drunk uncle, or she goes home, and I needed her here with me.

I agreed to her plan, but the whole thing didn't sound too appealing. She said we'd have to keep all the curtains and blinds shut, and hide her car in the garage. So really, it'll seem just as if the house isn't occupied.

The problem is, as I'm sure it'll keep Greg from getting suspicious, it'll also perk the thief's interest. I'd _still_ rather her be here then me being alone, but thing were getting pretty risky.

We got Barb to give us a ride to the house during her lunch break. She stopped in the driveway of the ghost house and let us out there, so we could enter the house through the back without being seen; just incase Greg was scouring the area.

Once inside we set the plan in action, closing off all viewpoints from the windows and glass doors until the house was completely blocked of all sun.

"I think that's everything." Tori comments, looking around and double-checking.

With all this commotion, I still never got my lunch. It was almost three, and I was starving as fuck. "Okay, everything's set. Now we need to run to the grocery store." I blurt, and grab my bag.

"Ohh… that's a long walk." The lazy girl moans.

"Well get over it! I need ham for my sandwich, and waffles for breakfast tomorrow, so get your lazy ass up and come to the grocery store with me!" I snap.

"What you _need _is to calm down." She informs me. "Look at you, you're all shaken up and uptight and, it's just not good for you. Relax!"

Tori places her hands on my shoulders, but I push her away.

"You want me to 'relax'? Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

She backed away, and slouched her stance. "I know you're worried and all, but I'm sure Greg won't come right back."

"I'm worried? _You _think_ I'm_ worried." I laugh. "Because you don't act like it."

She looks at me with a confused expression.

"I have been worried like hell trying to find you, because I thought someone was going to hurt you." I state, now in tears. "And you have the nerve to tell me to relax?"

She was speechless, and unsure how to respond. Between her random stutters and babbling of inaudible sentences, I finally gave up and retreated to my room.

"Jade wait!"

She decided to follow me up after being frozen there for a couple seconds.

"Jade, I'm sorry!"

I Ignore her and lock myself in my room.

I was so incredibly embarrassed. I was showing weakness and fear, and the worst part of it was that I was completely vulnerable in front of Tori. I didn't want her to think I was weak; but it was too late for that.

I lay back on my bed crying. Tori's been acting nonchalant ever since I first told her about the break in. I know she doesn't think that I'd be afraid, but I'd expect her to offer a little sympathy, us being a couple now. Doesn't she care about me?

The balcony doors slide open, and Tori peeks out from behind the blinds.

"Hey."

There it was again. That god damn 'hey'. As if everything's normal, and nothing's changed.

"What." I moan, and roll over to face away from her.

"You might not want me to see you crying, but I know you are Jade." The girl explains, then shuts the door behind her as she enters my room.

She sat down next to me and put her hand on my waist. I wanted to push her away again, but another part of me wanted to pull her closer, so she could protect me. Not from a thief, or a drunk, but from my own emotions.

"I'm really, really sorry you know." She tells me, rubbing the side of my stomach. "I had no idea you cared so much about me."

I could feel her smiling from the way she spoke to me. She was right, I didn't need to see her to know she was crying too.

After contemplation, I sit up and quickly embrace her in a hug. She kisses my lips before parting.

"I… I was worried sick…" I reiterate, making sure she knew I was sincere.

Tori held my hands in her own, staring down at them and avoiding eye contact as she spoke to me. "We're gonna stay together from now on until that thief is caught, deal?"

I rest my forehead against hers and nod slowly.

I allow her to press her lips to mine once more before she lets go of my hands and stand up. "So, grocery store, right?"

I scoot to the edge of the bed and wipe the salty tears from my cheek. "I thought you said it was too long of a walk."

"It's actually about ten minute walk from here by foot in…" She pulls the blinds aside for a second to look over the lake. "That direction."

I stand now and look to see she was pointing toward where the ferry port used to be before it sunk years ago, and a new one was built. I squint to see, but it's hard to make out the buildings form the distance.

"Ten minutes?" I question as I sniffle. "No way."

"Ten minutes across the lake." She clarifies. "And by foot."

"So what, we paddle all the way back with groceries?" I intrigue, since clearly neither of us have obtained the ability to walk on water.

"I'm saying now seems like a good time to get the speed boat working."


	4. The Luck of the Draw

CH 4: The Luck of the Draw

She's just lucky we found a plastic container full of fuel. The key's were very simple to find, and the life jackets, though well hidden, were totally unnecessary.

We finished prying off the cover, and Tori just hopped in the water with the container.

"Should I even ask?"

She looks up at me on the dock. "The gas thingy's down here, right?"

What does she think this is, a car? I scoop up the fuel container and let it drip off before setting on the seat, opening the back, and dumping the liquid into it's proper place.

Tori submerged on the other side of the dock now, her clothes soaking wet. She mumbled something about fore-warning under her breath, which I ignored and stuck the key in the ignition.

"You know this thing hasn't worked since forever, right?" I ask, my hand on the key.

"Just turn it!" The girl persists. "This suspense is just killing me!"

To both our surprise, the water vehicle started up immediately.

I only came for ham and waffles, but I'd realized when I got there I also needed syrup. Tori, on a roll with the shoplifting, started to take a few more things as well. We had our bags chocked full of unnecessary items that would surely last us through the week.

Tori was acting very confident by the time we thought about leaving. Last time we tried something, she was skittish. Today was different though- sure, at first she was still a bit weary. As we took more and more things though, she really got into it.

Back on the boat, we set our bags on the seats and counted through our take. There was plenty enough food to last us the rest of the week!

"Let's get going before they change their minds and come after us, huh?" Tori suggests, and I'm quick to agree.

"I'm very proud of you today." I inform her, and she smiles.

"I learn from the best!"

I nod, and start up the engine.

…

It stalled once, and I try again.

"Um, I really think we should be going." Tori repeats, looking a little concerned.

"No, this can't be right. We're practically full, there's no reason it should be stalling like this. It, it… it was just running a minute ago!"

I try again, and this time it doesn't even sound off. A few more seconds of fumbling with the device until we get it steadily running.

"Finally." Tori sighs in relief.

I pull the gear to drive, and start toward home. The boat runs for a good three seconds before shutting down.

"Fuuuuuuck." I moan, throwing my head back against the seat.

"Jade, um… we're drifting."

I look toward the dock to see the boat was still moving, but slowing down and taking us just a tad farther from the dock.

It was either we jump now, or things get a whole lot more complicated.

Tori went first. She threw her bag across, but the items tumbled right out as it flew threw the air. She jumped, and made it across fine though.

"I'll try to catch it. Just be careful when you throw it." Tori offers.

Fuck that! I was taking it across with me. I sling the bag over my shoulder, and make a run for it.

The boat kicked further back when Tori jumped the first time, and now I was even at greater distance. I nearly lost my footing when I stepped up the seats, so I back up and try again. I take my leap…

"Yes!" I excite after landing on my feet. "Take that, karma!"

"Um, Jade?" Tori concerns. I look at her. "That's not the bag of food."

Well crap. All that work all for a bag of smelly fishing lure. What's worse was the boat was still floating away.

We swam back to it, since we were already soaking wet and there wasn't anything valuable to keep from getting damp anyway. I toss the bag up on the seat, and Tori and I hop in.

"Now what?" Tori sighs.

"We have two options"

She looks at me attentively.

"We take it home ourselves, or we pay someone else to do it."

In theory, she and I could attach the front of the speed boat to the paddle boat and hull it to the house ourselves. The only flaw with that plan is Tori's lack of excitement about all the effort it will take to actually pull a mother-fucking boat across Diamond Lake.

"What's option two? Pay someone else to do it?" She remembers. "I like that idea."

"There is, by chance, a shop that offers boat towing. It's actually close by, if I remember correctly." I explain.

"Problem solved!" Tori smiles. "Where is it?"

"The scuba shop."

"Problem not solved. There's no way they'll help us out after last summer."

Tori slumped back in her seat.

"We can at least try to talk to them." I point out. "It's gonna take a lot less energy to try and get them to do it for us than it would for us to do it ourselves."

I'll admit I wasn't exactly looking forward to pulling the thing ten minutes across the water either. Eventually she agrees, and we start toward the scuba shop.

"And it's kinda just floating along the lake now, drifting in some direction." Tori finishes.

"Unless the police found it unattended and decided to take it." I add.

The manager didn't seem to recognize us. I think he was skeptical, but he was willing to help us out.

"Thank you!" Tori excites when he agrees to give us a hand.

"Two hundred dollars." The manager finishes.

Tori looks to me, and I shrug. "It's not that bad. My grandma can afford it."

"But that's across the lake!" Tori panics. "It's gonna take us hours to walk… we'll be lucky if no one steals it by that time."

"I'm sure we can work something out… what did you say your names were again?"

Tori was about to answer, but I do instead. "I'm Jade West, and this is my friend Tori Vega."

I'm not sure she liked that I gave her real name, but at least this way we won't have to worry about them remembering us from last summer.

"Well Tori and Jade, I'd be happy to give you girls a ride while we retrieve your speed boat." The manager smiles.

"That's really kind of you." Tori smiles.

"Not a problem my dear!"

This guy had a really nice boat. I mean… when you think about pontoon boats, you're thinking basic. The one Tori and I were on now was absolutely spectacular; nicer than any boat I'd ever been on.

"Up here. My address is 117." I inform him as we reach the dock.

As we came closer, the house came into clear view. The more I looked at it, the more worried I became. Something was just… off.

"Jade…" Tori murmurs. "You did lock the door, right?"

I know I locked up tight. It _seemed_ secure from where we were.

"I'll wait out here. You girls go grab your money." The manager informs us, already beginning to unhitch our boat from his.

We slowly walk toward the door. Pickles intercepted us before we walk inside, which caused both me and Tori to jump. When we entered, everything looked in place. I was absolutely _certain_ I locked the door before we left. I undid every lock when we entered! What were we so worried about?

"Let's just pay this guy and see if Barb will let us stay with her for the day." Tori suggests, and I nod.

I open the drawer in my grandma's bedroom, but the money isn't there.

"Problem?" Tori intrigues.

No, she always keeps her money here. Maybe my parents took it when they left for the hospital? But why would they leave me with no means of currency?

I check the safe in the basement, the stash in the bathroom ferns… Then I tried looking in desk in the computer room.

"Where's the newspaper?" I note when I enter.

"Will you wake up, Jade!" Tori shouts spontaneously. "You've been robbed!"

She was right. I put today's paper right here before she and I left, and now it was gone. And so was the money.

"Soooo…" Tori drags as we approach the manager again.

"Girls! I'm going to need your help latching these ropes." The manager greets. "My hands are just too big."

Neither of us moves. Instead, we stare at each other and contemplate how we're going to break it to him.

"Not too chatty?" He comments. "That's fine, I was quite shy at your age. Well I'll be taking my payment now and be on my way."

"…"

He looks at me strangely. "I couldn't hear you darling, what did you say?"

"I said… we don't have the money."

He seemed more somber now, rather than angry.

"Very well girls. That's… disappointing. I suppose I'll be confiscating this, then."

The scuba manager then begins to untangle the boat from the ropes, and lowers it back into the water.

"W-what are you doing?" Tori freaks.

"You're taking our boat?" I stammer.

"Sorry girls, but I'm afraid you've left me with no choice."

"B-but we were robbed!" Tori attempts to reason.

The manager sighs. "It's not robbery, It's in trade until you give me the money you owe."

"No, she means the money we owe you." I begin to explain. "My grandma's house was robbed."

He stops.

"Well… that's a bloody shame, but fact of the matter is… despite your current financial misfortune, I still require payment."

There was really no getting around it. I get where he's coming from, but…

"But that's my grandfather's boat." I say in a final attempt to reason with the man. "If I lose it, gran will be so mad at me."

He looks between the two of us for a minute, then places his hand on his hips before speaking. "Well, you don't seem like the type to cause trouble. I'm sure this all was an accident… perhaps we could work something out."

"Th-thank you!" I say. "So, what did you want in return?"

He begins to pace up and down, until he comes to a conclusion. He looks at us rather devilishly, and I become slightly concerned.

Finally, he spoke. "Do either of you girls have experience in sale?"


	5. The Sandbar

CH 5: The Sandbar

The manager- er… our new 'boss', I mean… well, he told us this story about how he ended up firing one of his best salespeople last summer, due to some confusion about a girl by the name of 'Rebecca', who apparently caused the salesperson a great deal of frustration.

As happy as I was to hear how much misery I'd caused this company, this was also what caused Tori and I to be stuck working here.

"No no no!" Our boss shouts. "You have all the information wrong! I thought you girls said you had scuba licenses!"

We weren't about to show them to him, of course, with our fake names and all.

"It was a long time ago." Tori moans. "And even still, they never taught us all the mechanics; just how to go underwater and stuff."

The manager just shakes his head. "This isn't working out…"

"Look, we're trying our best here." I reason.

"Well your best isn't helping me any. I'm sorry, girls. I just can't let this continue."

I look to Tori, hoping she had an idea this time.

"There has to be something else we can do." She comes up with. "We could clean? Or… stock?"

"I have employees for that." He reminds. "I can't just let you take over their jobs, they may as well quit on me too!"

"There has to be something else we can do." I say.

"No. I'm sorry, but no. You two obviously don't know the first thing about scuba gear."

So maybe we didn't know enough about the air tanks, or the suit's capacities, or those tube things they hook up to the tank… but…

"We know about the masks." I contemplate. "They're just masks, no one should really have any questions about them."

"We could totally sell those." Tori agrees.

"You think you can sell two hundred dollars worth of masks?" The man asks at the raise of his eyebrow.

"…and candy!" I throw in, looking now at the candy isle. "We can do two hundred just from masks and candy."

"We don't sell very much to begin with girls. The dollar store down the street sells the same masks, and the candy, for cheep. They're more there for package deals."

"Can we at least _try_ to sell them individually?" Tori questions, looking at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"Okay, fine." He says. "Masks are five bucks a piece, and the candy is anywhere from two to three dollars."

"Yes!" I excite.

"I hope you two can pull this off." Our boss mumbles as he walks off.

"And I know just how we're going to do that." Tori smiles with pride, and I look at her in confusion.

I'm glad she has a plan, cause I sure as hell don't. Five freaking dollars for cheap goggles?

But Tori seemed confident.

Next thing I know we're on my gran's pontoon (the speed boat was still being held at the store) with a ton of boxes full of gummy worms, Swedish fish, and cheep goggles.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" I ask, unloading a few more things from the boxes and setting them up.

She nods, unpacking some materials herself. "The manager said he doesn't sell them because the dollar store has them for a fraction of the price." She restates. "So, we just need to be at the right place at the right time."

So here we are in the middle of one of the three sandbars of Diamond lake….

"Why here?"

"Jade, it's fourth of July weekend!" Tori points out. "There's always been a party here this weekend, since, like, forever! I thought you knew that."

That's good and all, but… where's the party?

My questioning expression as I look across the barren lake was enough to tell Tori what I was thinking without me having to say a word.

"Just trust me. By the time the sun's past that tree…"

She was pointing at one in the distance.

"This place is going to be PACKED!"

She was right, too. Not only about the time, but there was a huge setup here. Kids were splashing in the water, people gathered on other's boats and mingled along fellow party goers.

It was lively and active, but for the entire half hour we've been 'open', we've only sold one pair of goggles.

"Hey hey hey!" Tori calls out, somehow still enthusiastic. "Need a sugar fix? Kids forgot their goggles? Masks for only five dollars! No need to go all the way home. And I mean, really, you can never have too many of these things, am I right? Huh?"

The group stopped paying attention to us at this point.

"Just forget it already!" I stammer. "We're not going to sell enough. We'll be lucky if we get ten pairs by the end of the night, and, by the way, our luck has been pretty rotten."

She sighs. "Common, we can't just give up. What if we 'just forgot about' the ring on the bottom of the lake?"

She's right, we at least have a chance. The sun was setting quickly though, and the majority of our potential sales would be gone within the hour.

"We need a plan." I state.

"Good!" Tori smiles, glad I haven't given up on this yet. "So…?"

I shrug, and she shakes her head.

It was pretty hopeless after all. I'm still going to try, but… staying hopeful was a challenge.

"Too bad we can't do that."

Tori was paying attention to a boat across from ours. I look to where she was pointing, and noticed a male standing on a pedestal on his pontoon, juggling fire. He was attracting quite a crowd.

"I've always been told not to play with fire." She comments. "Obviously that's some pretty bogus advice; that shit is sweet!"

I nod. "As long as he's here…"

"We're _toast_!" Tori finishes.

She was laughing at her own ridicules pun, and I just glared at her.

"...no? I got plenty more." She smites. "One of these jokes is certain to _catch_!"

"Something tells me telling bad puns isn't about to bring in any customers." I inform her.

"Oo, I just got _burned_."

"Oh my god…"

While she's over there ranting off her jokes, I sit and think. He really is attracting a crowd over there. Tori's not much of a comedian, but there is one talent we both posses.

I stand and cross to the other side of the boat.

"What, were my jokes really that bad?"

"No- well…" I contemplate. "Yeah, but that's not what I- oh, just get over here!"

She complies.

"We might not be able to juggle flaming torches, but…"

I turn the knob on the radio, and to my surprise the thing still worked! Tori seemed to get what I was hinting towards, and helps adjust the antenna.

We manage to bring up ninety-seven five, and a familiar song conveniently started the minute we get a clear signal. After blaring the volume, Tori and I look to each other and nod.

We began singing to the tune, which echoed off the water and got us some attention. As more and more people gathered around, we got more into the songs and danced around the boat.

It… it was working! People were buying our crappy candy, and our masks! Some of the elders sang along, and the kids did silly dances on their own boats.

By the time the sun set, we had to end our display. Boats began to depart, and Tori and I go over the funds. We did good, but were we good enough?

"A hundred and fifty six." She states. Damn…

I sigh. "I can't believe it, we were so close…"

"Maybe the manager will let us slide on the rest?"

Or he could have us work another day. We'd have to bust our asses either way if we were going to convince him to let us keep our boat.

"You girls enjoying the party?"

We spin around.

"Aunt Miriam!" Tori says in shock. "I- we-"

Her aunt laughs. "Oh, don't be so chipper! I'm not going to tell your uncle."

"Oh. Whew!" She sighs in relief, as do I. "So, what are you doing here?"

"It's a party my dears, you think I'd miss it?"

I didn't know her aunt Miriam was the party type. Then again, I don't know too much about her at all, besides the fact that she owns a water trampoline.

"Wonderful singing by the way. You too, West."

I smile. "Thanks."

Tori's aunt was looking at our boat now. What… was it broken or something? I swear to god, if this thing is broken…

"Oh, dears…"

Oh dear.

"Are you trying to sell all this candy?"

Riiiight… I was so worried about her turning us into Tori's uncle, I forgot all about the wares on the boat. No wonder she was looking at it funny.

"Oh yeah!" Tori smiles. "We did pretty good, actually."

"Is that Swedish fish? I love Swedish fish!" Miriam comments.

"Did you want to buy some?" Tori offers. "We have plenty left."

She looks at us, almost concerned. "You girls were saying how you didn't meet your quota before I showed up, is that right?"

"What? Well…" Tori stutters.

"And they said my hearing was going! Hah!" The enthusiastic elder taunts. "How much do you need?"

"About fifty dollars." Tori answer. "But there's no way I could ask you to do that for us."

Maybe she couldn't ask her aunt for money, but I sure as hell was about to! It's my grandpa's boat I'm trying to save, after all. Miriam never gave me a chance to argue, though.

"Nonsense, I'll have three boxes of your Swedish fish." Miriam instructs, handing us a fifty and a twenty. "You girls keep the change."

"W-wow." I stutter. "Thank you so much."

"Really, thank you!" Tori adds.

We ended up getting the boat back by the end of the night. At least that's one problem solved, but…

"What if the thief's still there?" Tori asks, echoing my thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: hey guys! Just so you know, I'll be attempting a crossover some time in the near future. I would REALLY appriciate it if you guys would go to my profile and vote on the poll- it's underneath my username- for which fandom i should cross Victorious with. Thank you so so much, and thanks for the reviews :)**

**-Mel**


	6. The Power of the Curse

CH 6: The Power of the Curse

Okay, seriously; I know I locked that damn thing! How the fuck did he get in to begin with?

"Do you think we'll be safe overnight?" Tori concerns.

Hell no.

"Hell yeah!" I say, acting confident. "No doubt."

I was just saying it to make her feel better, but I could tell she was still nervous. …I was a bit freaked out too. Obviously the thief had no trouble getting in and out of the house.

"How can you be so sure?" She trembles against me.

"Well…" I start. "Um… We'll… there'll be people in the house."

She squeezes tighter on my hand.

"This person isn't likely to show up if they know the house is occupied, right? That's what my parents told me." I tell her. "Plus, we have Pickles. Pickles!" I call.

Nothing.

I wonder if she ran out after the thief, or was going to the bathroom or something. Either way, it was making Tori even more nervous.

"Jade, I don't want to stay the night here!" My girlfriend cries, nearly breaking out in tears.

"There's always the ghost house across the street." I suggest. "Or, I don't know, we could go back to your uncles and hope he doesn't send you home."

She takes a deep breath. "N-never mind."

"…I'm here." I point out. "And we promised we wouldn't let each other out of our sights. Tori, you _know_ I'm not going to leave you."

"Y-your right." She says, and starts to nod. "Okay, I can do this. We can get through this."

I had to act strong, even if it meant lying to her. Panicking isn't going to help anything, except maybe add to her lack of sleep.

She was so jumpy all night though. We fell asleep pretty quickly, but every five minutes she kept waking up at the slightest of noise. It didn't help that our next-door neighbors were continuing their sandbar party at their house.

The thing is, they weren't being all that rambunctious. Little things like an occasional loud laugh or the sound of beer caps popping off stirred Tori, which caused her to flinch in my arms.

"Babe, settle down. _Please_." I beg her.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." She moans. "How can you be so calm?"

It's exactly like she told me the first time I told her of the break in; I was pretending not to think about it because I was hiding my own fears. I couldn't tell her that, though.

"It's because nothing's going to happen. There's a huge party at the house next to us, everyone there would notice someone trying to break in, and… they already took all the money." I explain, more trying to convince myself than her. "What more would he want?"

She yawns. "I guess you're right. If they wanted something, they'd have plenty chance to take all they wanted today. We… we were busy today."

I nod.

"We were so busy. We should really be getting some sleep." She points out before slowly drifting off.

Maybe finally she'll get some sleep. Then so can I…

Again we had nothing for breakfast, but at least we had a little cash. I noticed Pickles had returned too when I headed downstairs this morning.

"Why did you wake me up…" Tori complains for the fifth time this morning. "It's almost noon, I should be sleeping."

"I woke you up because we need to go eat, and I promised I wouldn't let you out of my sight. Now seriously, get your shoes on."

"We going to the Marina?" She whines, lazily dragging herself to the door and sliding on her sandals.

"No, I figured we'd eat at the steak house in Japan, maybe spend a few days over there, visit Godzilla- yes we're going to the Marina!" I blurt.

"Oh… well if we do go to Japan, can we stop by New Zealand first?"

I let out a hopeless sigh before grabbing her hand and practically carrying her out the door.

At the Marina, Barb talked us into trying her newest menu item; the wafflewich.

Tori looks at the plate in front of her. "So, what is it?"

"Waffle-ice-cream-sandwich!" Barb announces. "Just added it over the weekend, and let me tell you, you add a little bit of strawberries, bananas, and a dab of chocolate… mm, MM!"

I smile at her enthusiasm. "I'll eat pretty much anything at this point. How much do these things cost?"

"How bout you give me five dollars and I'll hook you both up, sound like a deal?"

I wouldn't know, because I really don't know how much these cost to begin with. My guess is Barb hasn't come up with the price yet, and we were her guinea pigs.

"Mm!" Tori delights after taking a bite out of the snack.

This actually was good! "Amazing!" I say through the food I was cramming in my mouth.

"I'm so pleased you dears are enjoying it! There's no doubt in my mind my new product will sell, sell, SELL!"

We nod.

Once we're done eating, we have time to actually sit and talk with Barb (You know, since our faces aren't stuffed with wafflewich). She asked about our 'hunt for the thief', and we fill her in on what's happening so far.

"As if all your grandmother's money wasn't enough, he had to go and take the newspaper too." She says, taking in everything we said. "Well I'll be!"

"We think it's because the guy wanted to see if he was showing up in any outlaw search, but who cares?" Tori explains. "I don't care if we get that back or not. The money…"

"Yes, yes." Barb sighs. "I assume that would be quite an issue. It's no secret Jade's grandmother is quite well off."

"Which could be what attracted the thief in the first place." I remark. "But there's none of it left at this point, so at least we don't have to be concerned about any break-ins.

"You girls know to come to me if there is, ya hear?"

"Yes Barb." We answer in unison.

"And if there's anything I can do to help, well, I'm in your debt." She finishes.

"Thanks." Tori says.

We didn't stay at the Marina for too long, since Barb said she had to return to her work. Since we had some spare time, we decided to take care of some of the errands we had yet to run. I wasn't about to go back to the grocery store, but we did manage to scrape up some change for lunch.

It was around ten at night when we finally got back.

"I told you it would take an hour to walk." I complain as we enter the driveway.

Tori, being the genius that she is, decided it would be a 'good idea' to jump on the train and let it take us to town to 'save time'. Due to her spontaneous actions, it wasn't until after we were halfway there that it occurred to her we'd have no means of getting home.

"How else were we supposed to get to town then?"

"We didn't have to in the first place!" I argue back.

"Couldn't you have mentioned that _before_ we hopped the train?" Tori scrutinizes.

Unbelievable.

Thankfully, the door was still locked when I went to open it.

"Let's just be thankful no one broke in while we were gone." I sigh, still annoyed with the girl.

When we enter though, sure enough we noticed more and more things missing. The pillows off the couch, the floor mat we put our shoes on, the sheets off my grandmother's bed…

"What's someone going to do with all that junk anyway?" Tori says out of no where.

The rug was hand-woven and very expensive, but those ugly old things on the couches…? I was stumped.

"At least we weren't here when it happened." I explain.

"What if we were?" She contemplates, a look of horror passing over her face.

"But we weren't!" I remind her. "We've been pretty lucky so far, so don't-"

"Pretty lucky? …we've been lucky." Tori stammers, her hands on her hips and looking at me sternly. "Have you not been paying attention? A _thief_ broke in, Jade."

"All I'm saying is, it could have been worse!"

"How?"

Without warning, all the lights in the house flash off. We're left standing in the pitch dark.

"Oh, butternut!" Tori cringes from some direction.

I stumbled around the house for a while until I found the empty pickle jar in the garage. …I… I think I'm in the garage anyway.

After filling the jar with the illuminant bugs from outside, I meet Tori on the balcony, where I saw her crying.

"It's going to be okay." I say, attempting to comfort her.

"No it's not!" She cries. "Someone's still breaking in, we don't know how…"

I could barely understand her through her tears, so I hold her and hope it'll make her feel better.

"This week has been nothing but a mess. First my uncle finds me, then the thing with the boat drifting off, and that guy we had to work for because someone _stole_ all our money. And that someone, whoever he may be, continues to take useless things, even though he has all your grandma's money. And now the power goes out. It's _not _going to be okay! We're cursed!"

I felt so terrible seeing her like this. She was just so hopeless, so… drained.

"…so we've had some pretty rotten luck." I admit.

There has to be something I can do to convince her things were going to turn around. Anything at all…

The lake was covered in darkness; how could the thief break in, if no one can see anything anyway? The only thing visible was the millions of stars that sprawled across the night sky, and the jar of fireflies on the table behind us.

All I could do was hold her, but it just wasn't making her feel any better. I wanted to make things alright again.

"…Jade, look."

From what seemed out of no where, a star passed through the sky.

I gaze in amazement; usually it's not dark enough to see this type of thing. It was stunning, and soon we witnessed another star following after it.

And another. It was a full-on meteor shower, and it was spectacular.

Tori and I were sitting at the table set now, holding hands as we watched the stars falling from the sky.

"It's stunning." Tori breaths. "Are you taking all this in Jade?"

I nod.

"...I'm sorry about what I said earlier." She speaks again. "We just have to stay positive is all."

She's right. Things were finally going to start turning around for us; I could feel it. As the stars continued to fall from the sky, I close my eyes tightly and focus on the events this week thus far.


	7. Serendipity

CH 7: Serendipity

"But Jade, the thief didn't take it. We did."

It was half past drunk and Tori and I were totally nine o clock.

"You're just not getting it Vega." I begin, slowly tipping out of my seat. "We just _pretend _it was the thief who took all granny's expensive wine."

"But if the thief didn't really take it… then who did?" She asks, taking another sip from her bottle.

Hmm… that's a good question…

"Does you think there's two thief's?" Tori concerns.

"Yeah." I laugh. "And their names are Tori and Jade!"

She smiles. "I think I know someone who's named is Tori."

"Oh, I doubt it!" I smite. "You're so drunk, I doubt you could even remember your own name at this point!"

…wait a minute.

"Jade."

I look to her.

"…Jade, hi."

I wave at her, then take another swig of my drink. "Hi."

"You're so pretty." She giggles.

As much fun and games this provided, fact of the matter is there was no food left. As I begin thinking on this, I came to a decided to stop.

"We should stop drinking." I suggest.

"No."

"Okay."

…what? She put up a fierce argument!

About three bottles of vintage wine later, I was sitting upside down in my chair while Tori was playing her New Zealand story on the waaaay, way way other side of the garage. And the garage was flipped upside down, and… so was Tori. And all the games.

"Did you win?" I call.

"I don't know; when the power went out, I think it erased all my high scores." Tori responds.

"The power went out?"

"It did?" Tori questions. "When?"

I just don't know. Too many questions.

"Wanna play a game?" Tori asks when I don't respond to her.

"You are playing a game." I point out.

She stands from the chair. Well, she stands, falls back down, then slowly wobbles up while holding the side of the game for support. "I mean, like, a drinking game."

It's been a while, hasn't it?

"Hell yeah!" I excite. "But first you have to get off the ceiling.

She reaches down and pulls me up. I was on the ceiling too now… whoa!

"I think you might be drunk."

"Psh, don't be ridawnulous! Now common, what're we gonna to play?"

"If you could!" She blurts.

"Noooo! That game's so boring fast." I whine, falling against her as I do. "How about we play beer pong?"

"Does your granny even have shot glasses to play with?"

Guess not.

"What about that game… um… have you never?" Tori questions.

"Have you ever?" I correct.

"Have I ever what?"

…what?

The game went on for hours and hours, as I recall. I claim that I'm bored of it, and we decided to quit. I think it went something like this…

*Flashback*

"What about that game… um… have you never?" Tori questions.

"Have you ever?" I correct.

"Have I ever what?"

"I'm bored."

*Flashforward*

Yeah… good times. But now my head was starting to hurt a bit. I wasn't as dizzy anymore, where as Tori, on the other hand, was downing yet another bottle.

I swipe it form her. "You're done."

"W-what?" The confused girl stutters. "Jade! That's nime!"

Uh huh. She's done.

"You took my drink!" She calls as I slowly work my way up the steps. "You're must be the thief!"

Her tantrum didn't last long. By the time I cleaned the mess up, she was sitting quietly and playing her game.

"Feeling better?" I comment, crossing my arms as I re-enter the garage.

"I'm mad at you." She huffs. "I don't remember why, but I am. And my head hurts.

Good. Not that she was quote-un-quote 'mad' at me, but at least she was feeling better.

"Drink some of this."

I toss her a bottle of citrus seltzer water, which ends up landing on the floor next to her. She didn't even attempt to catch it, but even if she did I doubt it would've done any good.

She grabs the bottle and mopes toward the table, where I was now sitting too.

"Can you go grab me some crackers?" She asks, halfway through her bubbly drink.

"I wish I could." I sigh. "We don't have any food, remember?"

"Oh… right."

We both sigh in unison, then the door bell rings.

"Shit!" I freak, standing up. "You think it's you uncle?"

She shrugs.

"Go hide, I'm gonna check."

Come to think of it, her uncle at the door wouldn't even be the worse case scenario. With the luck we've been having, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cop standing at my doorstep with a breathalyzer handy.

"Dad?"

I peak through the blinds to notice my father standing at the door. I open it, and he steps in. He had a large paper bag in his hands.

"You're okay, that's good." He greets.

I look outside at the car. "Where's gran?"

"Still in Florida." He responds. "But she's doing a lot better. I figured she could manage by herself for a few days while I came back up here."

"You took a three day drive up here just to check on me?" I question suspiciously.

"Jade, I worry about you! …and mom may have been nagging me about coming back to check on you."

So it was gran that was worried about me. That makes more sense.

Oh, that reminds me! "She spoke to you then?" I excite.

"Well, yes." My dad replies.

"Did she mention anything more about the thief that took her vase?"

He shakes his head. "She's having a hard time remembering."

Well, so much for that.

"Oh, and I brought you some food!"

He didn't stay too long, because there was a cab waiting for him to take him to the airport. He had to drive here, but taking the plane back would no doubt save him time.

He left the bag on the counter, and after he left, Tori peeks out from the garage.

"Did your dad say he brought food?"

I swear, that garage door must be hollow or something.

But right; we have a huge bag full of cereals, chips, soups, and other food items, as well as the keys to grandma's car.

"This is great!" Tori smiles as she pulls out a pack of crackers. "Now we won't have to walk everywhere and risk getting caught!"

I nod.

"Roooh?" Pickles picks up. She must think I have fish in the bag for her.

"When was the last time you fed the beast anyway?" Tori asks me, looking concerned for the dog.

I shrug. "We could give her a cracker or two I guess."

She throws one on the ground.

I have to admit, it's pretty convenient my father brought food around this time. We've been pretty lucky all day, actually. After breakfast, Tori got a call from her aunt Miriam saying that Greg went down to Florida. With him off our backs, we were able to retrieve the Black Jet! And while we were getting _that_, we found an abandoned tube on the side of Isle Serena. It looked fine, so we took it home with us.

The best part is, during the entire time we were out today, nothing was stolen.

Currently, I was sitting in the kitchen waiting for Tori to return from upstairs. Apparently she had something she wanted to show me? But she told me I had to wait for her here.

I hear the door open from upstairs, and watch her as she rounds the corner.

"Don't you look succulent." I grin as my girlfriend approaches me. She was wearing her bikini, and smiling just as much. I put my hands on her waist when she finally reaches my position, and scan her body. "What is it you wanted to show me?"

She shrugs. "Nothing. Can we go tubing?"

"Nothing? Why did you make me wait down here then?"

Again she shrugs, and this time laughs a little. "Cause, I knew if I asked you to go tubing you would say no!"

"And, why am I not going to say no now?" I question, not quite following her logic.

"Well… cause I'll change back into my normal clothes."

Like I said before, she puts up a fierce argument.

"Just because we've been lucky all day doesn't necessarily mean that-"

She pulls away from me and starts toward the stairs.

"I'll grab the boat keys."

"Yes!" Tori excites, doing a quick hop and squinting her face. "I'll go get the keys, you go change."

Whoever said I was going tubing? She left so fast I didn't have the chance to argue over it. Even if I do change, I don't _have _to get in the water, right?

…right?

By the time we got on, Pickles was already aboard and ready to go. I swear, that dog likes boat rides more than she loves car rides. And Pickles _loves_ her car rides. A few minutes after Tori was done tubing, she insists I should go next.

"You can't drive my grandpa's boat!" I argue, swiping the keys back.

"And why not?"

Um…

"It's because… because… you're still drunk!" Is what I came up with. "Yeah, Tori. You're alcohol levels are way too high for you to operate a motorized vehicle, and-"

She shoves me off the boat and into the tube.

"VEGA!"

"If I were you I'd hang on!" She laughs, grabs the keys from the floor, and instantly starts the boat.

Next thing I know, we're speeding around lake, being thrown in all sorts of directions… It was… kinda fun, in a nostalgic sorta way.

She was doing sharp turns to get the tube to do jumps, and half the time I swear she wasn't looking where she was going. Eventually, her recklessness lead to me being flung off the tube and into Diamond Lake.

"Jade!" I hear her call, her voice was muffled form being under the water.

Tori began to circle back, and soon the boat was approaching me.

"Jade, are you alright?" The concerned girl asks.

I start hacking up lake water. "D-don't just stand there!" I continue to cough. "H-help me up!"

She reaches down to pull be out of the water, and I take her hand.

SPLOOSH!

I smile demonically as I pull her into the water. She looks at me with a furious expression when she finally pops up.

"Oh my god! You little- I was worried!"

"Common, I fell off a tube, it's not like I don't know how to swim." I laugh.

She slashes me. "I thought you were drowning!"

I swim closer to her now, and put my hands on her hip while kicking my feet to keep afloat. "Well what were you gonna do? Give me mouth to mouth?"

She pushes me away.

"Be serious!" Tori scolds.

So she was worried about me, and it's cute, but whatever. With how little of her skin was actually covered, I'm surprised I've been serious this long.

I approach her again, and plant a kiss on her lips. "I am serious." I smile against her smooth complexion.

She wrapped her arms around my neck in reaction, and quickly fell into the kiss. Our bodies we pressed against each other, and my head was no longer above the water. With my breathing constricted, and the way she was holding me, it made the kiss that much more exciting.

"Mmm…" She moans, bubbles flaring up from her nostrils. She continued to suck at my bottom lip, possibly not realizing we were underwater.

When we do pull up, both of us gasp for air.

"I think I might still be drowning." I mutter.

"Hmhm." She smiles as she continues to wade.

"Hey gorgeous? We should be getting back."

"Um… yeah." She sighs. "I guess so."

"Roof! Rawrrrrarf!"

The two of us look at Pickles, who was freaking out over something on the boat.

Once I climb back on, I see her harassing a local fish.

"Pickles, it's just a bass." Tori scoffs at my grandma's dog. "It's not gonna hurt us."

"Great." I groan. "I'm dating a girl who thinks that dogs understand English. Figures."

She glares at me.

"Tori, she's just hungry. Let's just go before she decides to-"

"Jump in?" She finishes.

I look at her in confusion. "Yeah, how did you know what I was going to…"

Upon further examination, it appears the mutt has already gone in pursuit of the fishy snack.

"Pickles!" I scold. "God damn it, it's not food! Get back here right now!"

"Uh huh. And I'm the crazy one who talks to animals?"

"Just shut up and drive!" I command, noticing granny's dog getting further away.


	8. Pickles

CH 8: Pickles

"Why is your grandma's dog so stubborn?" Tori moans as she drips into the house.

"I told you, Pickles is part werewolf." I remind her.

"Yeah, I don't think so."

Whatever the case, we'd finally caught up to the beast and brought her back. What's even better is that nothing seems out of place since we've taken a look around. We were cold and soaking wet, but everything was good for the most part.

"What would your grandma do if we lost her dog anyway? You think she wouldn't let us come over anymore?"

I laugh. "Gran hates that thing! She'd probably throw a party!"

"Aw, poor dog."

The dog was my grandfather's idea. He wanted to get gran a companion for when he passed away. She's kept it in his memory, but Pickles is a lot of work for her. It keeps her active, I guess, but I doubt she's getting another anytime soon.

"Well now that that's done, wanna head over to aunt Miriam's and play on the water trampoline?"

I shrug. "Lead the way."

I sat up all night thinking. I'll admit I'm a bit superstitious. I think my acknowledgement of the connotation people place on certain ideas adds to my success as a play write.

…or I just have an active imagination. One or the other.

I was thinking about some things, though. About luck, and bad luck, and karma. What happened with the speed boat at the grocery store was karma; that much I'm certain of. But what about some of the other rotten things that have happened to us? Would Tori believe me if I told her it was her fault?

"Mmm, you awake?"

She rolled over to face me, shifting her body in a way that still kept her tightly wrapped in my arms while allowing her to press her lips to my collar bone. "I wanna make love to you."

I smile. "That's sweet, but you look like you're going to fall asleep any second baby."

She shakes her head, moaning "I am noooooot." Then yawns.

It doesn't matter anyway. Who it was that triggered these events, I mean. It's not like either of us meant for someone to break in, so who cares?

"Jade, take my shirt off."

"Why don't you do it?" I question, pulling her head up and kissing her lips.

"Cause," She groans. "I'm too tired to do it myself."

Yeah, that's what I though.

"Rawrf! Rarooo!"

"PICKLES SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shout, which causes Tori to spring up.

"Ow! Do you have to do that every time the dog barks?" She asks, rubbing her head. "I think I lost hearing in my right ear!"

"Sorry, sorry! It's just a habit. It's probably that damn mail man doing his nightly routine, Pickles always freaks out over him about this time." I explain.

"Didn't we kill him?"

I shake my head. "No, that was just in the deleted scenes. It doesn't really happen in the actual story."

"Oh, well… can we kill him anyway? I'm really starting to get a headache from all the barking. And from you _yelling_ at me." She points out.

"Hey! I wasn't yelling at you, I was yelling at the dog!"

"Arrroooo!"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" I respond.

Tori plops back down on the bed. "Just go feed it or something."

I refused to get out of bed to feed the dumb animal, but laziness didn't stop Tori from worrying about the 'poor doggy', as she put it. I don't quite remember when she returned, but I woke up in her arms the next morning.

She was still asleep, so I figured I'd allow her to rest. No point waking her up early if I'm just going out on the balcony anyway.

Diamond Lake looks so beautiful at sunrise. Little sparkles reflected off the water as the sun made its climb, gleaming brightly in the distance.

"Good morning Jade." Tori greets, wrapping her arms around my waist as she joins me on the balcony.

I turn around and gently kiss her on the lips. "Hey gorgeous, what are you doing up so early?"

She shrugs.

"So hey, I was thinking we'd run down to my uncle's and grab some boos while we still have the chance." She explains as she paces to the balcony edge.

She was focused on the water now, watching the short flashes of light bounce off the water's surface.

"Would that be alright?"

I don't see why we can't. Besides, since I've discovered Tori on this lake, it just doesn't feel right being sober all the time.

"Sure." I respond. "But not right now, I want to watch the sunrise."

She closes her eyes and smiles. "Funny."

…

"You don't seem like the type who would enjoy that sort of thing."

I shrug. It's true I'm not a big fan of the eccentric star (nor would I like to live there, to clear up any confusion), but the morning view is just magical. When we were hiding from Tori's uncle, none of the blinds nor curtains were opened, so maybe I missed it while we were trapped in the darkness.

Not only that, but I liked spending time with Tori. I don't think it matters what I'm doing; as long as she's around, I'm happy.

"I love you." I tell her, and put my arms around her shoulders.

She giggles. "Why so melancholy all of the sudden?"

I'm not too sure. It's probably just the moment. It was peaceful; unlike last night when Pickles continued to interrupt our conversations. Tori wanted sex from me, but I couldn't see it happening with the dog making so much noise.

Speaking of the mutt…

"Breakfast time!" Tori calls to the dog when we reach the kitchen. I was working on buttering my waffles, and she was shaking a bag of dog food. "Jade, call your grandma's dog."

"Pickles! Come!" I command.

Nothing.

Tori and I look to each other. That dog never misses a meal, so… where was she?

"I wouldn't worry about it." Tori says, noticing my concern. "She's probably still asleep."

"I'm not worried!" I deny.

She rolls her eyes.

We searched around casually, going about our business as usual, but she never turned up. Not in the garage, not outside or on the dock, no luck upstairs, in gran's room, and her food went untouched. Noon rolls around, and I admit I _may _be a little worried.

"Honey bunny, you there?"

My gran and father were at the door, and we were freaking out! What _would_ gran do if she found out we lost her dog?

"Y-yeah, um, just a minute!" I call.

"Sugar, I don't have my keys. Could you let me in?"

There was no time left; stalling wasn't going to get us anywhere. After agreeing on a story, Tori ran into the kitchen and I opened the door.

"Hey, gran!" I say in a nervous tone. "You're okay."

"Of course, and as are you! I told your father to take you home, but he just wouldn't listen." She sighs.

"Oh- nope, um, we're fine. Someone took off with more stuff, but we were unharmed."

"We?" She questions, looking around.

"Hi!" Tori greets, peeking in from the kitchen.

"Oh, Tori honey, you're here too?"

She nods. "Who else was gonna keep 'Jadey wadey' safe from the thief?"

I punch her in the shoulder. "Knock it off!"

My father and grandma laugh.

"I'm just relived no one got hurt. Now, won't you two help me inside? I brought gifts."

It was a sweet little reunion, and I'd hoped Pickles would've showed up when gran got home. I had to continue to act like nothing was out of ordinary as she handed me a present.

"This one is for your uncle, miss Vega." Gran says, handing Tori a wrapped gift.

"I thought he was in Florida visiting you?"

"Yes, yes. He heard of the incident and went running off. I had no idea he'd just abandoned you though; you girls are much too young to deal with this by yourselves, so I sent him back."

"It's was really fine, actually-" Tori begins, but I interrupt.

"Well- so glad you're back, thanks for the presents, we should _really_ be going though, school's started without us, me and Tori are behind, Harold has work-"

"Oh Jade deary, relax! It's not that big a deal. Open your present hun."

I do as she instructs.

"A charm bracelet?" I guess as I pull it from the wrapping.

It wasn't really my thing, but… it was kinda cute. It had a few charms on it too; a starfish, a small flame, a baby bird, and a tiny key.

"And there's spaces in between, so when you find more that you like, you can add them on. In time, you'll fill the entire bracelet." Gran tells me.

"Um, thanks." I smile. "That's really thoughtful of you."

"And I'll give this to Greg when I see him." Tori nods.

"I would appreciate it." She replies.

There was a pause.

"Well, I'll be fine here, so don't you worry about me. I called the neighbors, and they'll be checking up on me from time to time. You should all be going now."

"Sorry we couldn't catch the thief…" I say.

"Oh, Jade. I'm glad you didn't have to interact with such a foul criminal." Gran assures me. "You're safe, and that's all that matters."

"Um, mister West? Could I maybe get a ride from you back to Hollywood?" Tori asks.

He looks puzzled.

"Dad, it's alright. She lives a few blocks from us." I laugh. "It's not that far."

He shrugs. "Just have your things packed, I'll wait for you girls in the car."

"Thanks!" Tori calls.

"Oh Harold, don't forget your gift." Gran says. Tori and I start toward our room.

"Thanks for the- …bass?" I hear from the steps.

"Silly me! That one was for Pickles." Gran laughs. "Pickles? Com'ere Pickles!"

We froze at the top of the steps and look at each other.

"Pickles?"

Gran looks up at us from the ground floor. "Girls, you wouldn't happen to know where my dog is, would you dears?"

"Umm…"

"Rawf! Rawf!"

"W-we put him outside!" Tori responds hastily.

"Jaden, you know the dog can't be outside unattended young lady." My father scolds, and the two head out the front.

"Few…" I sigh, and Tori has a look of relief. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah. Talk about luck!" She nods.

We meet gran and my dad out front, but still no Pickles.

"Pickles?" Gran was still holding the fish. "Grandma's home sweetie. I brought you a present."

"Rawrf! Rawrf!"

The sound was coming from under the deck. Was she maybe trapped there? It would explain why Tori and I couldn't find her.

"Oh!" Gran says, and takes a step back. "Harold, girls, come look!"

Under the deck, we found Pickles, and five little puppies.

"Aww!" Tori smiles. "They're so adorable!"

"Gran, isn't that your stuff?"

Besides the dogs, we also noticed a newspaper, some sheets and bedspread, pillows, a hand-woven rug, and a TON of money, all sprawled out as cushioning for the babies.

The vase was there too.

"So wait, Pickles is the thief?" Tori questions.

"Pickles is a mama." I say.

"So, who's the daddy?" Harold comments.

We never did find out, or discover what it was that caused gran to faint. We chalked it up to some loud fireworks and a stray mutt, and called it a day.

"Jade." Tori whispers.

Tori and I were cuddling in the back seat, which I could tell was making Harold _really_ uncomfortable.

"Yeah?"

"What's your grandmother going to do with those puppies?"

I shrug. No one really asked; It was more important we found her stuff.

"You don't think she's gonna get rid of them, do you?"

"Oh, no. I'm sure she'll find a good home for them." I assure her.

"So, she won't mind if one happens to be missing then?"

I give her a funny look, and she raises her eyebrows. I look down to her purse, and see the edges moving slightly.

"Tori!"

"Oh common! Look, it's so cute. I couldn't _not_ take it."

Tori Vega, of all people…

"I've been such a terrible influence!" I laugh, petting the tiny puppy in her purse.

"Yeah, but so have I."

We were never really in danger at all. Some events may have taken a bad turn, but that was nobody's fault but our own. You can't know what's going to happen, and you can never really expect anything. Tori was so certain this summer vacation was going to be relaxing and less chaotic than last, and I was convinced there was a thief breaking in. Of all the suspects, I never imagined it would be the dog.

When you say you 'never want something to end', think about it first. That, and be careful what you wish for.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to check out my Victorious-style 'Saw' series, and keep an eye out for part FOUR: "Winter Break on Diamond Lake" (Hehe! It's so rhymey!) And thanks for the reviews; hearing your positive feedback is what keeps me writing :)**


End file.
